HC Deb 01 November 1990 vol 178 cc682-4W
Ms. Armstrong

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been given early retirement on health grounds by the superannuation board of the national health service in each of the last five years.

Mr. Dorrell

In each of the last five financial years the number of NHS employees who have retired prematurely on the grounds of ill-health and drawn their superannuation benefits is as follows:

Financial year Number prematurely retired
1985–86 6,282
1986–87 6,427
1987–88 6,147
1988–89 6,695
1989–90 6,627

Ms. Armstrong

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been refused early retirement on health grounds by the superannuation board of the national health service in each of the last five years.

Mr. Dorrell

In each of the last five years the number of NHS employees who have been refused early payment of superannuation benefits on the grounds of ill-health is as follows:

Year Number
1985–86 315
1986–87 321
1987–88 307
1988–89 334
1989–90 328

Ms. Armstrong

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis have applied for early retirement on the grounds of ill-health to the superannuation board of the national health service in each of the last five years; and how many have been granted early retirement.

Table 1
All admissions to NHS Mental Illness hospitals and units, by age, in England
Age group (years old) 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
All ages 178,841 175,422 171,914 169,310 180,164 185,514 183,593 188,518 192,258 199,995 197,251
0–9 725 758 767 669 710 701 647 689 671 677 707
10–14 1,340 1,350 1,237 1,240 1,334 1,284 1,247 1,203 1,198 1,222 1,077
15–19 7,071 6,176 6,080 5,808 5,956 6,025 5,446 5,458 5,527 5,438 5,272
20–24 13,804 13,249 12,302 11,806 11,841 11,956 11,628 12,300 12,963 12,952 13,267
25–34 34,852 33,274 31,317 30,178 30,931 31,711 29,951 29,690 29,792 30,118 30,476
35–44 29,780 28,324 27,608 27,105 28,884 29,831 29,514 30,434 30,879 31,235 31,069
45–54 28,926 27,574 26,153 25,102 26,019 25,963 24,825 24,443 24,812 25,314 23,859
55–64 23,122 23,759 23,526 23,271 24,670 25,266 25,044 25,756 25,675 26,539 24,423
65–74 20,789 21,767 22,319 22,341 24,014 24,932 24,758 25,373 25,271 27,944 27,487
75 plus 18,432 19,191 20,605 21,790 25,805 27,845 30,533 33,172 35,470 38,556 39,614

Table 2
Rates of all admissions to mental illness hospitals and units, by age, in England (per 100,000 population in age group)
Age group (years old) 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
All ages 385 378 371 365 388 397 392 402 409 425 417
0–9 11 12 12 11 12 12 11 12 12 12 12
10–14 35 35 33 33 36 35 35 35 36 38 36
15–19 204 174 168 156 157 157 140 140 145 145 143
20–24 432 411 376 355 347 345 321 331 338 329 334
25–34 534 506 474 457 468 478 458 460 459 459 455
35–44 564 537 517 497 521 523 499 499 495 491 479
45–54 519 505 487 474 497 494 478 471 478 489 464
55–64 442 452 449 447 477 480 481 489 482 510 479
65–74 489 509 519 516 553 570 579 611 624 676 656
75 plus 769 781 818 844 973 1,009 1,078 1,141 1,188 1,263 1,276

I will write to the hon. Member with information for the years 1987–88 and 1988–89 in due course.

Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the trend in admissions for mental handicap hospital and units in the last decade in the age groups for which statistics are kept.

Table 1
All admissions to mental handicap hospitals and units, by age, in England
Age group years old 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
All ages 14,023 14,936 15,815 16,665 18,954 21,974 24,951 31,106 35,014 37,800 40,060
0–1 83 79 108 112 99 110 163 163 143 108 216
2–4 567 557 542 577 669 716 789 827 941 1,159 869
5–9 2,312 2,371 2,582 2,444 2,547 2,835 3,077 3,536 3,491 3,873 3,998
10–14 2,770 2,949 3,241 3,495 3,924 4,512 5,214 6,115 6,154 5,921 5,568
15–19 2,407 2,806 3,006 3,352 3,945 4,549 5,379 7,029 8,154 8,584 8,751
20–24 1,612 1,743 1,892 2,176 2,594 3,104 3,643 4,753 5,728 6,663 7,613

Mr. Dorrell

The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.